And Suddenly
by MellyMiraculous
Summary: As Adrien dashes for place to transform into Chat Noir, he encounters a scene he didn't expect. Chat Noir wants nothing more than to share his discovery, but Ladybug is resistant.
1. Part I

**And Suddenly**  
by MellyMiraculous

 **Summary:** _As Adrien dashes for place to transform into Chat Noir, he encounters a scene he didn't expect. Chat Noir wants nothing more than to share his discovery, but Ladybug is resistant._

 **Story Notes:** _Reveal AU in Three Parts. It starts fluffy, then gets a bit angsty. Not sure how that happened._

* * *

 **Part I: Discovery**

0o0

It was her.

That was the inane thought that kept running through his bewildered mind. It was her. It was Marinette. Marinette was Ladybug. Ladybug was Marinette. It was her.

Chaos had broken out in Paris again as a new akumatized villain appeared. As always, Adrien had hurried off to transform, making an excuse to Nino that he'd forgotten he already had an after school commitment and they would have to hang out another time.

He had dashed to the nearest sheltered place he could think of, the command to Plagg already on his lips, only to skid to an abrupt stop. Someone had arrived to the spot ahead of him.

"Marinette?" the boy murmured to himself, barely ducking back behind the corner to avoid being seen as she glanced over her shoulder. "What is she doing?"

Curious despite the urgency building within him, Adrien peeked out from behind the wall. Marinette reached down to open the clasp on her ever-present purse. She said something aloud which he didn't catch because her back was to him. His eyes did not fail him, however, for he clearly witnessed something red and small - roughly the size of Plagg, actually - fly up from her bag. This time when she spoke, he was just able to hear the words.

"Tikki, transform me!"

Adrien watched with bated breath, utterly dumbstruck. There was no mistaking the scene taking place before him. It was so very similar to his own transformation into Chat Noir, only the end result was...

"Ladybug," the name fell reverently from his lips. It was her. Marinette was Ladybug all along.

Everything took on new meaning, the events which followed his first transformation imbued with greater nuance. In those few seconds, his mind replayed moment after moment. The overwhelming sense of familiarity he had often felt with both Ladybug and Marinette that he could never quite place made sense, now. All the times Ladybug had appeared in places where no one could enter or leave and Marinette had all too conveniently gone missing felt startlingly too convenient.

He should have known.

"Shouldn't you be rushing off to help your Lady?" Plagg interrupted his thoughts. Adrien shot the kwami a speculative look, abruptly certain that Plagg had known the truth all along. But Plagg was right. It was not the time to be lost in his thoughts.

"Plagg," he said, glancing about to make sure he wouldn't be seen, "transform me!"

Adrien found that it was strangely easy to fall into his role as Chat Noir. The boy had, for a moment, feared that knowing Ladybug's true identity would prove too great a distraction from the task at hand. It didn't, though. He was Chat Noir to Marinette's Ladybug just as he'd always been before.

He did wonder at this, in the back of his mind. Shouldn't it have been a little difficult to act the same as always when he now knew who was behind that spotted mask? Shouldn't he have felt different?

And suddenly, as he watched her capture the akuma at the close of their latest battle, it dawned on him.

He had already known. Some part of him had known from the start when those bluebell eyes first met his own.

Who else but Marinette? Selfless, bright, courageous Marinette. Of course, it was her – there was no one else!

"Chat Noir?" Ladybug's voice – Marinette's voice – reached his ears.

"Yes, my Lady?" he responded at once, a smile pulling across his face.

She seemed a bit taken aback, uncertain. "Is something... wrong? You're... looking at me strangely."

"It's nothing," Chat Noir reassured her, echoing the words the following day when she asked if he was all right between classes. "Nothing at all." In fact, everything was perfect.

It's her. Marinette is Her.

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 **A/N:** _Please let me know how you liked Part I! Part II will follow soon. Hugs, Melly._


	2. Part II

**And Suddenly**  
by MellyMiraculous

 **Summary:** _As Adrien dashes for place to transform into Chat Noir, he encounters a scene he didn't expect. Chat Noir wants nothing more than to share his discovery, but Ladybug is resistant._

 **Story Notes:** _Reveal AU in Three Parts. It starts fluffy, then gets a bit angsty. Not sure how that happened._

* * *

 **Part II: Rejection**

0o0

Ladybug was convinced she wasn't imagining it. Maybe at first, but now? No. Chat Noir was definitely behaving differently, even if she couldn't pinpoint exactly when it started.

"But don't you think we actually know each other in our civilian lives?" her partner was questioning aloud.

She shot him a frown, watching as he walked along the peak of the roof they were on. It wasn't the first time he had voiced such a theory, of course. It was, in fact, about the twelfth time in two or three weeks. "Aren't you curious?" he had asked one of the times, holding onto her wrist as the time to their de-transformation drew near. "We might really know each other!"

"Why are you being so persistent?" Ladybug asked, coming to a stop.

Chat Noir continued a few more steps, presumably so he could lean insouciantly against the chimney. "Well, don't you want to know?" he asked, green eyes especially luminous in the moonlight.

They were on patrol – a task which they frequently undertook together. Mindful that they both had daytime lives and commitments, they tried to complete their rounds by midnight. Some nights, this was easier to achieve than others. Ladybug thought it a wonder that she didn't oversleep her alarm more often than she did.

"Chat Noir, we talked about this," she sighed.

Chat Noir seemed to visible deflate, even as he straightened up out of his lean. "Did we?" he said plaintively. "Because as I remember it, you did all the talking."

The look he was giving her made her heart feel like it was being twisted in her chest. Why must he look at her in such a way? Ladybug had thought - she'd been certain - that he agreed with her on this. Apparently, she'd been mistaken.

Part of her was tempted to give in right then. What could it hurt?

She knew, however, that it could hurt a lot. If they knew one another's identities, Hawk Moth or some other villain could find a way to extract the information from them and use it against them. Knowing could put them both in danger.

Even so, as valid a concern as it was, Ladybug knew that was not her greatest reservation. Chat Noir knew the confident her. He knew the girl who could do and achieve anything. The heroine of Paris; a capable person worthy of fighting beside him. But the real her, the person she was without her miraculous - why, she was just Marinette. Clumsy, awkward Marinette, who couldn't even stand up to the likes of Chloé before she had Alya at her side.

Ladybug couldn't bear the thought that Chat Noir might be disappointed in who she was behind the mask. Try though she might, she couldn't quite shake the fear that he would be.

She was shaking her head before she'd made the conscious decision to do so. The words that crossed her lips came as little surprise to her.

"No one can know who we really are," she echoed the very words she'd said the first he had suggested they share their identities, "not even the two of us."

He looked so crestfallen then and her heart ached in the most bewildering way. Ladybug wasn't certain what it was about that look on Chat Noir's face that suddenly made breathing itself seem painful, but it did.

"We should separate for the night," Ladybug said, struggling to keep her tone light. Everything was the same as always. There was no reason for her to be feeling like she suddenly wanted to cry. "It's about time we both went home, anyway."

Chat Noir gave her an obviously forced smile in answer and Ladybug turned to leave as quickly as she could without appearing as though she was fleeing. She didn't see the tears that welled up in his eyes and spilt down his black mask. She didn't witness how he'd pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes a second later, sinking into a despondent crouch.

In fact, it was a wonder she could see anything that night, for the whole of Paris itself had managed to become a messy blur before her very eyes.

* * *

 **A/N:** _And that is the end of Part II! (I dunno where the angst came from.) The third and final part will follow soon. Hugs, Melly._


	3. Part III

**And Suddenly**  
by MellyMiraculous

 **Summary:** _As Adrien dashes for place to transform into Chat Noir, he encounters a scene he didn't expect. Chat Noir wants nothing more than to share his discovery, but Ladybug is resistant._

 **Story Notes:** _Reveal AU in Three Parts. It starts fluffy, then gets a bit angsty. Not sure how that happened._

* * *

 **A/N:** _HOLY SMOKES! So many faves and follows, not only for this little story, but for me, as well? I'm so, so honored and flattered and touched. Thank you so much! This is the last chapter of_ this _story, but I promise I have more for you! Thank you, thank you!_

* * *

 **Part III: Insecurity**

0o0

Adrien found that it was much more difficult to shake the feeling of rejection he felt than it had been to keep his discovery to himself. He knew it was a bit silly. She wasn't even rejecting him. Not truly. There were very good reasons for them to keep their identities secret.

Still, it had hit him hard. It was difficult knowing that Marinette and Ladybug were the same person when she didn't even seem curious about his own identity. He probably should have just told her he knew the truth, but that seemed hard, too. After all, what if she was disappointed to learn that he was Chat Noir?

So Adrien remained quiet, even as the feelings of rejection and uncertainty ate away at him. His friends were noticing that something was off with him, despite his best efforts. Marinette, too, seemed concerned, for he had caught her gazing at him with worried eyes.

Adrien couldn't decide whether she also seemed a bit sad or not. Perhaps a part of him was hoping she was - and that didn't make him feel very good about himself. After all, who hopes that a person dear to them would feel sad?

Knowing on his own was proving awful. He wished he had never found out. If only he had hurried off to a new hiding place instead of remaining to see what Marinette was doing that day. Then he wouldn't be tormented with the desire for her to know. Wondering had been easier. He'd grown used to it. Could he grow used to this, as well?

He hoped that he would, and soon.

"Adrien!"

The boy turned to look at Plagg. He hadn't failed to notice that the little kwami had been on his best behavior the last couple of days. Plagg had even tried to cheer him up. It was kind of… sweet.

"Look," Plagg said, gesturing rather dramatically towards his television set. Adrien rose quickly from his slouch upon the sofa, green eyes widening. The news was reporting a new villain spreading havoc throughout the city. He must have been more distracted than he thought if Plagg was prompting him to action.

"Plagg, transform me!" he called out.

A few minutes later, Chat Noir and Ladybug's paths converged. For the first time ever, he couldn't seem to find a pun or clever quip with which to greet her. Perhaps working together when he still felt so out of sorts was a bad idea. Maybe it would be better to leave this particular confrontation to Ladybug alone.

But what if she needed him?

So, they forged on, pursuing the latest victim of Hawk Moth's akuma. Chat Noir soon forgot to feel awkward as instinct and just plain old routine pushed aside all else save the task at hand. Ladybug, also, fell back into their easy camaraderie, the guardedness which had surrounded her since that night on the rooftops melting away.

Theirs was soon a decided victory, just as it had always been before. No sooner had the purified butterfly fluttered away into the stormy sky, however, than the previous feelings all came rushing back to him.

"Good job, kitty," Ladybug told him, gracing him with a warm smile as the last dot on her earrings began to blink. She turned to go, her arm drawing back to throw her yoyo.

Chat Noir's hand shot out to catch her by the other hand as drops of rain began to fall from the sky. "Don't go," he said. Now his ring was on the last paw pad, and as Ladybug turned to look at him, his gaze turned pleading. "I already know who you are."

"Chat-" she began, pulling against his grip.

"I saw you. Three weeks ago. You transformed near the school," Chat Noir spoke hurriedly. "Marinette-" at her name, the girl's eyes widened "-I just want you to know me, too." His voice had grown very soft as she hung her head, shoulders drooping with the action. Although he loosened his hold, she didn't try to pull away again.

A second later, he watched as the Ladybug disguise melted away and Marinette was standing across from him, her spotted red kwami floating in the air above her shoulder. She hadn't looked back up at him, her gaze fixed on their hands instead. She had to have seen as Chat Noir's facade also disappeared, leaving his hands bare and the ring on his hand silver instead of black.

Adrien wondered if she recognized it.

"Marinette..?" the boy questioned when her gaze remained diverted from his. The rain had begun to fall in earnest. He almost couldn't couldn't hear her quiet response.

"Aren't you disappointed?" Marinette asked, voice strained and uncertain. "That I'm… her. Doesn't it disappoint you?"

And suddenly, it dawned on him that the self-doubt she had voiced so long ago was more than a momentary lapse of confidence. She really believed that he could be disappointed in her.

"Ah, my Lady," Adrien said, his free hand reaching up to cup her face and gently guide her gaze to his. She looked back at him with all the bewilderment and uncertainty and trepidation he had felt just moments before. He smiled down at her, tilting his head down to press his forehead against hers. "Why so insecure? You're purr-fect."

A sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob escaped her lips, and then her arms were wrapping around him in a needy embrace, her face buried against his shoulder. Adrien rubbed a hand along her back, trying to soothe the sobs he could feel more than hear. As Plagg made some comment that went ignored, the boy reflected that Marinette hadn't seemed all that surprised to see it was him. Perhaps they had both known more than they'd realized.

What mattered now was the truth was shared between them. They no longer had to feel the need to hide any part of themselves. Everything else could be figured out along the way.

* * *

 **A/N:** _And that's a wrap for this particular tale! Hope you liked it - be sure to tell me what you think. Feedback always makes me so, so happy, even if it's something short. 3 Thanks for reading! Hugs, Melly_


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